From care leaver to care helper, trainer and entrepreneur

Kirsty Watson in her salon at Denby Dale

Tue, 27 Oct 2015 11:09:00 GMT

Kirsty’s Qualia opens for business

Qualia Skin Specialists ACCORDING to the Prison Reform Trust, children in care aged between 10 and 17-years-old are more than five times likely to be in trouble with the law than children from a more stable upbringing. However, a care leaver and Huddersfield graduate, is determined to show looked after young people that, armed with the right information and a positive outlook on life, good things are achievable.

Qualia Kirsty Watson, aged 34 and from Almondbury, graduated from the University with a BA in Interactive Multimedia in 2011. In the years following she became a qualified Level 4 Beauty and Aesthetics Professional and in 2013 opened her salon Qualia Skin Specialists, now located in Denby Dale. The business caters for a wide range of treatments specifically for ageing, problematic skin and semi-permanent makeup.

“After graduating from University,” said Kirsty. “I was initially interested in becoming a skin specialist, to manage my own Grade 4 Acne, which is one of the higher grades of acne a person can suffer from.

“I’ve tried numerous recommended medical treatments and have spent a lot of money in the process. Thankfully, after taking charge of the situation, I found various ways of managing my acne and I now provide the same service and combination of treatments here at Qualia to help people with their skin conditions and to manage and maintain younger and healthier looking skin,” she added.

Not long after opening her salon, Kirsty had the revelation of combining her two areas of expertise, interactive multimedia and beauty into a career with the help of the University’s Enterprise Team, based in The Duke of York Young Entrepreneur Centre. As a result, a new beauty therapy college called Qualia Aesthetics and Beauty Academy has now opened its doors.

The academy teaches aspiring beauticians a full-learning package in order to gain industry accredited qualifications and for those who want to be self-employed and completely self-sufficient, they can combine this with the Web design, Print and Marketing packages on offer, which Kirsty also teaches.

Scholarships to care leavers and victims of domestic violence

‌ Qualia Aesthetics and Beauty Academy Not one to shy away from a challenge, Kirsty is passionate about being in a position when the business has progressed, where she can eventually offer K.J. Watson Scholarships to care leavers and victims of domestic violence to train them to become qualified Beauty and Aesthetics Professionals with full NVQs.

“For a lot of young people in care, further education just isn’t an option,” said Kirsty. “I hope to be able to show them that this doesn’t have to be the case and if they want to go on to further study they can, they just have to be shown how.”

To add to running her own business, working as a beautician and teaching, Kirsty is currently in the process of becoming a qualified hairdresser so that in the future she can also specialise in adding hair extensions to ethnic minority women.